In this guest post, James Ricketts explores how to get rid of registry problems. Learn more about James at the conclusion of this post.

The Windows Registry is a database that contains information about Windows PC configurations and settings. For example, it includes a list of hardware-software settings, user preferences, and system configuration information. Information is added and recorded in the registry whenever programs are installed or uninstalled on the computer. Generally, when you are installing software or hardware, several new entries are recorded in the computer’s registry. Similarly, when a program is uninstalled, there are always a few entries left behind in the registry.

Over a period of time, a large amount of unwanted information gets stored in the registry making it large and unstable, and as a result, your system slows down and may start experiencing frequent computer freezes, errors, and crashes. This is the reason why, to improve the performance of your PC, you should remove the unwanted information by conducting regular registry cleanups.

Methods to Clean Up Windows Registry

There are various ways by which you can remove unwanted files from your registry. Some of the commonly used methods are listed below:

Manually Cleaning the Registry

You can manually clean up the registry, using the Registry Editor tool that comes built-in to your Windows operating system. To open the Registry Editor, you need to run the command “regedit.exe” at Start > Run.

The first step you need to take after opening the Registry Editor tool is to make a backup of all the registry files, by exporting and saving them to a different location. You can do this by using the File > Export command. These backup files can be used in case you encounter any problem while cleaning up the registry.

After you have made a backup of all the files, you need to search for “application_name” files and delete them.

If you are not familiar with registry files and are unsure of what is to be deleted, then it is advisable that you avoid using this method because if you edit the registry incorrectly, your system may become unbootable.

Using Registry Cleaner Software

There are many registry cleaner programs available in the market that you can use to remove unwanted data from the registry. An efficient registry cleaner software scans the system and the registry for unwanted information and performs registry cleaning by removing this unnecessary data.

Virus and spyware programs add several keys within the registry that at times, get left behind even after you perform antivirus and antispyware scans. When you clean your registry with the help of a good registry cleaning tool, you can easily get rid of these malicious registry keys.

You can also use a good registry cleaner tool to defrag the registry. This helps in optimizing the registry by helping you get rid of unwanted empty registry keys and consolidating the fragmented registry files.

Ideally, you must clean your computer registry at least once every six months. However, this frequency also depends on how you use your PC and the frequency of program installations and removals on the system. Always remember that registry health is critical for your computer. So, regular registry maintenance can assure you of an optimized and error-free PC.

James Ricketts is a writer whose work can be seen at Instant-Registry-Fixes.org. To find out more about his work or to contact him, please visit Instant-Registry-Fixes.org.